“I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.” ~Oscar Wilde This time of year I usually head to the kitchen to make my coffee first thing in the morning, and while I wait for the water to boil I make a new batch of sun tea. We go through about a…
“Behind every successful woman is a tale of self reliance, persistence, and the joy of following one’s heart.” from the Victoria publication The Business of Bliss I have been in love with Victoria Magazine since I was 16. I picked up the premier copy back in 1987. The breathtaking photography of Toshi Otsuki was the…
photograph by Melissa Placzek My brain is overflowing with ideas today and wouldn’t let my body sleep in. The idea of a French press got me to my feet at about 5:00 AM. Is there any better motivator than coffee? It’s suppose to get up to 70 degrees here in Minnesota today. I’m figuring if…
photograph by Melissa Placzek “So many worlds, So much to do, So little done, Such things to be.” ~Alfred Lord Tennyson My daughter Andrea will be starting her college classes soon! I can’t believe I’m old enough to be the mom of a college student! Where does the time go? She’s going to be a…
In the city where dining is a sport, a gourmand swears off restaurants (even takeout!) for two years, rediscovering the economical, gastronomical joy of home cooking Gourmand-ista Cathy Erway’s timely memoir of quitting restaurants cold turkey speaks to a new era of conscientious eating. An underpaid, twenty-something executive assistant in New York City, she was…